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Little Tips and Ideas

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    • This is a tip I learned from my father.

      When you go to bed at night, lie on top of your sleeping bag instead of crawling inside. Lie there and rest until you start to feel chilled. If it's cold this might just be a few minutes but if it's warm, it might be quite a while. When it starts to get uncomfortable, then crawl in the bag. If your metabolism is ramped up from hiking/camp chores/etc when you get in your bag, you sweat, you get clammy, and in the long run, you are colder. But when you let your skin surface cool off first, the bag feels warm and cozy when you crawl in. Your skin will cool down much more quickly than your core temperature so you are not really loosing that much heat. I especially enjoy those minutes of laying on top of the bag. I can sort of feel that excess energy radiating out. It is very relaxing. Sometimes my favorite time of day. On warm nights I fall asleep in top of the bag. At some point I will wake up feeling chilled, but I then crawl in the bag and go right to sleep.

    • odd man out wrote:

      This is a tip I learned from my father.

      When you go to bed at night, lie on top of your sleeping bag instead of crawling inside. Lie there and rest until you start to feel chilled. If it's cold this might just be a few minutes but if it's warm, it might be quite a while. When it starts to get uncomfortable, then crawl in the bag. If your metabolism is ramped up from hiking/camp chores/etc when you get in your bag, you sweat, you get clammy, and in the long run, you are colder. But when you let your skin surface cool off first, the bag feels warm and cozy when you crawl in. Your skin will cool down much more quickly than your core temperature so you are not really loosing that much heat. I especially enjoy those minutes of laying on top of the bag. I can sort of feel that excess energy radiating out. It is very relaxing. Sometimes my favorite time of day. On warm nights I fall asleep in top of the bag. At some point I will wake up feeling chilled, but I then crawl in the bag and go right to sleep.
      The other thing is that you have to get dry. Don't just lie there. Change all your clothing. Yes, right down to the skin. You'll sleep a heck of a lot warmer in a dry baselayer.
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.

    • To get the most from a camp, choose a spot that will be comfortable, I always look for large down trees and boulders that make for a comfortable place to sit and relax and have a snort. The spot in the photo was one of my favorite until a flood washed the trees away (below Cheaha Falls). You could sit on the top tree and hold your hands over the fire when it was cold or lay wet cloths on the top log to dry...came in handy for cooking those hot dogs too. There are two streams that come together here that make for a good dip before bed to cool off.
      Images

      • 2011_04100053.JPG

        145.77 kB, 800×600, viewed 271 times
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      I tried the tips for my knife problem ... washed it in the dishwasher and sprayed it with WD40. It's better, it still doesn't open easy but I'm not breaking my nail anymore. Thanks ya'll.
      Try a little silicone spray if you have it, if not try some spray Pam or other cooking oil. WD-40 lubs for a while, but it has cutting agents, it's best for freeing rusted or stuck bolts.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • WD40 isn't really a lubricant.
      It was developed to prevent corrosion by displacing water.
      Water displacement, that's the WD part of the name.
      The 40 comes from the fact that it was the 40th formula the scientists came up with.
      The original purpose was to prevent corrosion on the skins of missile.
      Our defense dollars hard at work, sort of.

      Like jimmyjam says, silicone spray works much better to make things easier to move.

    • Found a new trick that may be useful someday. I have always enjoyed reading maps. We wear out atlases at our house. I lost a year of my life when I discovered Google Earth. Anyway, a number of years ago, I first discovered that I needed bifocals or reading glasses because I could not read the smallest print on maps (map printing is often VERY small). If you are not old enough to have experienced that yet, you will someday. Now I am to the point that I couldn't possible read the small print on a map without my bifocals. I sometimes have wondered what would happen if while out on the trail, a savage beast came up and took away my glasses (or maybe I just sit on them and crush them, or drop them off a cliff). I could walk fine without them. In fact, I might like it better. It sometimes is hard to focus on the ground when I look down through the part of the lens that is designed for close-up focusing. But what if I need to read a map or a guide book with micro-printing after said beast absconds with my corrective lenses? Am I screwed? do I carry a spare lens? No! Here is the neat trick after this way too long set up:

      To read fine print without your glasses in a pinch, just curl up your index finger tight, leaving a very tiny hole on the inside - like making an OK sign with your hand, but make the hole as small as possible. Then old your hand up to your eye and look through it at what your are trying to read. It will now be in focus. You can't see much, looking through a small hole, but it would allow you to read a map or a guide without glasses if necessary.

      sciencealert.com/watch-how-to-see-without-glasses

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      I sprinkle baking soda on my tent before storing for an extended time.
      Does that make it taste better or does it rise faster? :D
      It's shake and bake, just do the shaking outside or your house will be covered in white powder.
      You can get arrested for that.... and then they have a really good laugh down at the precinct.
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

    • odd man out wrote:

      Found a new trick that may be useful someday. I have always enjoyed reading maps. We wear out atlases at our house. I lost a year of my life when I discovered Google Earth. Anyway, a number of years ago, I first discovered that I needed bifocals or reading glasses because I could not read the smallest print on maps (map printing is often VERY small). If you are not old enough to have experienced that yet, you will someday. Now I am to the point that I couldn't possible read the small print on a map without my bifocals. I sometimes have wondered what would happen if while out on the trail, a savage beast came up and took away my glasses (or maybe I just sit on them and crush them, or drop them off a cliff). I could walk fine without them. In fact, I might like it better. It sometimes is hard to focus on the ground when I look down through the part of the lens that is designed for close-up focusing. But what if I need to read a map or a guide book with micro-printing after said beast absconds with my corrective lenses? Am I screwed? do I carry a spare lens? No! Here is the neat trick after this way too long set up:

      To read fine print without your glasses in a pinch, just curl up your index finger tight, leaving a very tiny hole on the inside - like making an OK sign with your hand, but make the hole as small as possible. Then old your hand up to your eye and look through it at what your are trying to read. It will now be in focus. You can't see much, looking through a small hole, but it would allow you to read a map or a guide without glasses if necessary.

      sciencealert.com/watch-how-to-see-without-glasses
      HB is making pinhole camera's with his bodyparts & fingers and checking the NY Times articles as we post. .....Hmmm, not really pretty. We really need to fire our eye doctors......now where is that keyboard... OK, got it.

      [IMG:http://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/5986811/il_570xN.258808950.jpg]
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup: